The Law in Lake County Indiana

By Voyle Glover on Sunday, April 25th, 2010 | Comments Off on How Not To Defend Yourself in Court

Judges always advise defendants in a criminal case to have a lawyer represent them. If they’re indigent (too poor to hire a lawyer), the court will appoint a lawyer. Here’s a great example of a guy who thumbed his nose at the judge’s advice, then on the day of trial, realized he was way over his head and tried to get the judge to give him more time to prepare. The judge was unsympathetic. Then, he pulled a little trick out of his not-so-nimble mind that left the judge even less than impressed than she was before, and left the defendant with a 40 plus year sentence. Here’s a video on how why you should never defend yourself in court, but if you do, here’s how NOT to do it.

By Voyle Glover on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 | Comments Off on Disinheriting Children by Ignorance (and Remarriage)

Disinheriting Children

Men (and sometimes women) often disinherit children they love and adore. The truly sad thing is often, they are completely unaware that their actions have had the effect of taking away the inheritance rightly belonging to their children. Disinheriting children is a common thing in America, today. The State of Indiana has a slew of parents who have disinherited their children unintentionally. Lake County Indiana has a disproportionate share of fathers and mothers who are routinely disinheriting children they raised, lying on their death beds, expecting that those children would one day inherit the wealth they accumulated in their life.

Disinheriting Children: How it Happens

A man marries, has children, works many years, buys a house, accumulates some stocks, bonds, perhaps an IRA and a retirement. Then, his wife dies. For a few years, he muddles about the house, then one day, he meets a woman who brings meaning back into his life. He remarries. It’s clearly a union that is good for the both of them. She is needy in many ways. She is relatively poor in the goods of this world, living on Social Security that is inadequate to make ends meet. She finds in this man security, and she truly enjoys his company. They are both in love. For the both of them, they are the cure for each others’ loneliness.

On October 30, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office released the following press release. This lawsuit ought to raise serious questions in the minds of Joe & Jane Citizen. We see here a “behind the scenes” look at what many have been saying for years, to wit, that Big Pharma is about “big money” and not about protecting the health of Americans; and also, that the drug manufacturers have seduced the medical profession wholesale (but at retail prices).

LIVING TRUST

The term “living trust” is pretty common and has been the subject of marketing efforts for estate planning by a wide array of folks, many, if not most of them, non-attorneys. These are living trust mills. They will often market a living trust which is generic and call it a “Loving Trust.” Now, it may have been originally prepared by an attorney, but there’s no guarantee of that. There will be an appointment set up. Thereafter, an individual who is not a lawyer, will come to the home, explain the living trust and why it is needed. He or she will collect the advance fee, and then leaves with the information he or she has collected. The documents will be prepared, and soon thereafter, the representative will bring the documents making up the living trust to the home for the signatures of the clients.

Living Trust Documents Often Too Complicated

Sadly, these documents are often bloated, and are way too complicated for the client to begin to comprehend. I once had a client come into my office and angrily toss a 3-ring binder onto my desk and say, “I have no idea what this means! Can you help me understand it or get rid of it?” I had not prepared the living trust. It came from one of the living trust mills in a nearby state. She did not comprehend why she needed the trust and the will, and really wanted to get rid of the living trust. I explained the difference between a will and a trust and we ended up modifying the living trust by putting it into plain English that she could understand. Read More…

Trusts and Wills Are Different

When you set up a living trust, it is something that “comes alive,” or is legally effective the moment you sign the trust document. Trusts are “right now” documents, which means they are immediately effective. A will is different in that while your will is legal, it really does not take effect in legal terms until your death. Prior to your death, it is not a document that is, in the strict sense of the word, “enforceable.” For example, if you leave Susan $100,000.00 in your will, she cannot sue to get that will enforced, prior to your death, since the will is not going to be effective until it is probated (which is where the will is submitted to the Court and administered via the statutory processes mandated). Trusts and wills are two very different documents and both are necessary.Read More…